THE SEAL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2644, 22 June 1889, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE SEAL.

Tiik domestic economy of the fur seal is probably unique. Karly in the spring, about the first week in May, the old male seals arrive on the coast, drag themselves ashore, and proceed each to survey and plan out the spot of ground which he designs for his home during the summer weeks, From the moment of his arrival the life of the'see cutnliie,''us those old bulls are called by the natives, is one long struggle—first flirr.lirig for their ground, and then holding it. against nil comers until nearly the middle of June, when the cows begin to appear, flocking up in vast numbers from the sea. Happy then are the bulls who have managed to secure the front places along thra shore. Eager and breathless they wait at the water's edge, cajoling and invitiugr and encouraging the timid cows, who are literally fought over by their amphibious lords. Whilst the old " see catehie,' who has placed one of the timid beauties in in suftty in his plot is busy inviting another ashore, his neighbour in the next rank behind will, by fair or foul means remove the first comer to his own quarters; and this process may be repeated again and again until the luckless prize sometimes reaches the outermost lines of the 'rookery'a quarter or oven half a mile from the shore, very much the wor.-o for her passage, having been passed from hand to hand, or, more literally, from mouth to mouth, and sometimes almost torn to in pieces during the struggle. All this is accompanied by roarings and bellowings and bleatings, which cause the souud of a largo seal rookery to be heard far out to sea, above even ihe thunder of the breakers. In the end, some of the bulls manage to secure as many as forty to fifty cows, whilst Others, weaker or less favourably situated in the ' rookery,' have to be eoutented with far sinallcr numbers. Over these, and the little pups which are born a few days afterwards, the 'see-catehio'main-tain an iron rule, defending them with their lives, and apparently, so far as has been ascertained, never leaving their post during the whole season even for food or water. It is believed that during this whole period the bulls are entirely sustained by their own fat. On arrival they weigh from 4001b to 0001b, and are described as shaking like a dish of jelly with fatness. Gradually they wear away, till at the end of the season they are mere masses of skin and bone, worn out with fasting, fighting, excitement, want of sleep and often covered with soars they have received in their furious conflicts with each other. By September the whole colony seems to have broken up. The clockwork order which once prevailed has gradually relaxed. The little pups begin to learn to swim, playing and chattering with each other like so many children as they become at home in the water, and then coiling themselves up on the shore in tens of thousands to have a nap. By the end of November most of the seals old and young, are again at sea and lost to human sight till tho next spring brings a renewal of this extraordinary spectacle. It is estimated that nearly five million seals assemble year by year on tho Pribylow islands. Brit now comes another remarkable faet. From one-third to one half of these vast multitudes have no place in tho 'rookeries.' These are tho young male seals under six years of age, who are called by tho Russians ' holluschickio'or ' bachelors ' and who are' compelled to herd apart by themselves and away from the broodinggrounds,' never being allowed by the old ' see catehie ' to put so much as a flippor on or near the ' rookeries' on pain of death or fearful mutilation. They are in some iustauees allowed a clear path through tho rookeries to their own 'hauling grounds' in tho rear; but should one venturo to loiter for oven a moment on his way, he will be literally torn limb from limb by tho vigilant'see catehie' Consequently for the most part tho "holluschickio" avoid such dangerous neighbourhoods, and choose unoccupied beaches, where thoy haul themselves out of the water, and cover tho whole shore for miles, thousands upon thousands leaping, playing, sleeping as tho fancy takON them,